A stuttered start to the season is now in full swing with United to host the Mariners, then the Newcastle Jets on Wednesday, before flying to Sydney to take on the premiers the following Sunday.

And adding to the strain on players is the fact that dynamic youngsters James Brown and Tahj Minniecon will miss the entire week after being selected in the Olyroos squad which heads to Vietnam for an international tournament later this week.

Assistant coach Mike Mulvey, who coached Brown and Minniecon to the National Youth League title last season, concedes the timing is bad for United.

"It is going to be a real test of the depth of our squad," Mulvey said.

Mulvey, who has overseen the development of Brown, paid particular credit to the rise of the 20-year-old.

"Browny has had a brilliant start to the season, his performances have been what I expect of him and hopefully now everyone else is seeing the qualities that he has got," he said.

"He is a big loss for us but we have got plenty of younger lads like Golly (Golgol Mabrahtu) and Ben Halloran who can step into the shoes - this is an opportunity and they will take it."

Brazilian midfielder Robson and English import John Curtis returned from injury and played for the Gold Coast youth side during the week and look set to return to the seniors, and the form of the lively Ivorian, Adama Traore, also has Mulvey keen that United can be consistent through this glut of games.

"It's fair to say Adama surprised a few people on the weekend, and that's a positive from our perspective, he's dynamic on the ball and of he concentrates the whole 90 minutes then he is a dangerous player in attack for any opposition," Mulvey said.

A versatile playing list will aid United no-end as legs tire towards the end of matches.

"Adam has proven is that he is adaptable. We've got (Steve) Pantelidis who played left full-back on the weekend and Anderson who can step in. We are blessed with a few people who can play a few different positions," Mulvey added.

Mulvey and his men took great confidence over their 1-0 victory in Perth last weekend and will be looking to use that to get on a roll through this tiresome part of their draw.

"I think that is what we have been trying to do, get a foothold in this league. It feels like the league has started again and we've got a foothold, the key now is to back it up with a good performance against Central Coast," he said.

"Miron (Bleiberg) is on record saying we wanted six or seven points from these four games (including the Perth game) but I just look to each game. We won last weekend and we should be looking to win again this weekend and go from there."

Striker Joel Porter is unlikely to play against the Mariners, instead concentrating on being 100 percent for the Jets game.